The Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, uses a system of coded speech to communicate between leaders and party bureaucrats. These coded messages are filtered through the CCP propaganda system to issue policy directives, with the codes taking the form of slogans, linguistic formulations, and key phrases. In a new report, RAND's Howard Wang analyzes this code system and how it's used by the CCP. Such analysis can provide valuable insights into “what the party tells itself is true,” Wang writes.

The Trump administration has called for the reinvigoration of the U.S. shipbuilding industry. According to RAND researchers, “shipbuilding challenges did not develop overnight, and they will not be fixed immediately.” However, there are a few key actions that policymakers can take to meet the White House's challenge: examine and learn from past failures, seek an improved shipbuilding workforce, and consider enlisting the help of close allies like Japan and South Korea.